President Trump’s old driver for 25 years is suing for back pay….Open Thread for 7/9/18…

A guy who has quite a few Civil suits brewing in the courts against him for woman problems and the ole’ Trump welching on paying people….

Donald Trump’s personal driver for more than 25 years says the billionaire real estate developer didn’t pay him overtime and raised his salary only twice in 15 years, clawing back the second raise by cutting off his health benefits.

Noel Cintron, who is listed in public records as a registered Republican, sued the Trump Organization for about 3,300 hours of overtime that he says he worked in the past six years. He’s not allowed to sue for overtime prior to that due to the statute of limitations.

“In an utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement and without even a minimal sense of noblesse oblige,” Trump and his businesses exploited the driver, Cintron says in the complaint.

The driver’s allegations echo those of other Trump employees or contractors who have sued the president or his businesses over the years claiming he has underpaid them or failed to honor promises to compensate them for their work. They have included mortgage brokers, landscapers and electricians who say they were stiffed on commissions or fees.

Last year, one of Trump’s luxury golf resorts in Florida was ordered by an appeals court to pay more than $32,000 to a supply company that claimed it wasn’t paid for paint that was used to spruce up the property.

A Trump Organization spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a call for comment on the driver’s lawsuit…..

“Trump’s Supreme Court nominee will be a product of the intellectual, educational, and organizational efforts of serious conservatives in recent decades. He or she will be a rule-of-law constitutionalist. He or she will be what Trump isn’t and someone Trumpism couldn’t produce.”

I think that basically said it all and I am extremely happy with the selection of Judge Kavanaugh. I thought he was very impressive tonight. When it comes to important matters like this, I am glad the current President believes in outsourcing and allowed the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation to drive this process. That being said, Trump still had to make the final call and I think he did the right thing. There is not a day that will go by where I do not regret that someone like him is President, but I can always at the same time be grateful that Hillary Clinton is not picking people for the Supreme Court.

So for now, with all the rest of the Trump tumult still swirling around, there is something to feel good about for the sake of the country, that will last long after Donald Trump departs from the scene.

Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution by U.S. Stuns World Health Officials

By Andrew JacobsThe New York Times
July 8, 2018

A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly.

Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.

Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.

American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.

When that failed, they turned to threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was the first to find itself in the cross hairs.

The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced.

The showdown over the issue was recounted by more than a dozen participants from several countries, many of whom requested anonymity because they feared retaliation from the United States.

Health advocates scrambled to find another sponsor for the resolution, but at least a dozen countries, most of them poor nations in Africa and Latin America, backed off, citing fears of retaliation, according to officials from Uruguay, Mexico and the United States.

“We were astonished, appalled and also saddened,” said Patti Rundall, the policy director of the British advocacy group Baby Milk Action, who has attended meetings of the assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, since the late 1980s.

“What happened was tantamount to blackmail, with the U.S. holding the world hostage and trying to overturn nearly 40 years of consensus on the best way to protect infant and young child health,” she said.

In the end, the Americans’ efforts were mostly unsuccessful. It was the Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure — and the Americans did not threaten them…

Most knowledgeable people know that polling this far in advance is not very predictive. Joe Biden is in first place in polling because of name recognition. Despite multiple times as a national candidate, he has not overwhelmed anyone as a campaigner. Joe is a good guy; I just see him as a relatively weak candidate. The Dems can do better.

Sanders is not my choice either, but his unexpected success in 2016 had nothing to do with being promoted by the media. If anything, the media portrayed Hillary as having the nomination in the bag. Sanders did well because people went out of their way to hear him speak, and who despite his age was an energetic speaker.

There are – despite what you prefer to believe – a lot of Democrats who want a candidate with some passion. And that is why the experts believe that Sanders, Warren and Harris would appear to have a better shot at winning the nomination than Biden.

And for a person to complain about Sanders being too old, but then saying he is for Biden is incredibly disingenuous. It is just another example of pure hatred on your part. Why can’t you admit that you are driven by hatred even more than most Republicans are?

This seems like a very complicated issue. It seems like when this story broke, he told less than the whole truth, which is compounding his political problem, and it also seems like the left is so desperate to get his scalp that they are exaggerating the allegations against him

The below are my *opinions* based on what I know about the story

1. I am not really a fan of Mr. Jordan’s influence in the House GOP

2. The now deceased doctor acted disgracefully if these allegations against him were true. He should have lost his medical license. The people in charge of the program were negligent to not have taken this more seriously, but however long ago this happened, I think everyone would have probably taken something like this less seriously than they should have. It’s good that things have changed, even in the last few years.

3. Jordan is not alleged to have touched anyone against their will or assaulted them, which differentiates this case from the Franken one or others.

4. Based on everything that is coming out, it seems like there was a pretty sordid culture around OSU wrestling for which the coaches should be considered partly culpable.

5. Jordan has changed his story to imply that he might have heard rumors about this doctor during “locker room talk” or in the realm of gossip.

6. It also appears likely that nobody at the time ever formally went to Jordan and complained about this or said that they felt assaulted or violated or asked him to do anything to remedy it. Because of that, he issued a more forceful denial than he should have. He should have said that these were only rumors he had heard and he wishes in hindsight that they would have been more proactive, instead of just assuming the wrestlers could take care of themselves. Jordan and his fellow coaches might have worried that they would be inappropriately accused of targeting a gay doctor for discrimination.

7. Obviously, it was incredibly wrong for a doctor to be trying to do unnecessary genital exams or having people drop their pants just for his own jollies, but it’s also pretty reasonable to assume that not many of these college wrestlers in an elite program did anything to formally complain or claim victimization.

8. Whether a “double standard” or not, in the eyes of the public, this is a different situation than the sexual violation of petite underage female gymnasts by a doctor or the systematic molestation and rape of very young boys by a Penn State assistant football coach. The wrestlers definitely did not deserve to be objectified or touched inappropriately but most people will probably assume that the college-age male wrestlers were never really in any true danger and they probably did not feel they were either.

9. This probably makes it very difficult for Jordan to have any aspirations of House Speaker anytime soon, but I doubt he is at too much risk of losing his seat or anything else happening. The appropriate authorities should complete a full investigation. The public airing of this story will hopefully prevent anything like this from happening elsewhere.

Please show where I ever posted porn or tormented poor Kyle other than to call him out, like I always have with you Corey, for his ridiculous Republicanism. Something that becomes more ridiculous by the day.

So, Corey cannot, although he has tried, defend the actions of a Republican leader of Congress who is now involved in a sex scandal. So, he attempts to make it personal and deflect with a false equivalency. With stories about a blog post. Really?

Please show us where I wrote those things.

Then explain why you are defending an enabler of pedophilia. Because you were so upset about Al Franken.

Sexual crimes are different. If you were willing to move heaven and earth to have your sexual predator locked up, then everyone would eventually know what happened to you. Perhaps your Republican friends would fully understand and appreciate you for what you went through?

Paul Ryan, the current Speaker, has said this is a serious matter, and that he will avoid further comment until the investigation is complete.

Jordan made this worse for himself by offering such a firm blanket denial and having people blame the “Deep State”, etc. Whether this is politically motivated against him or not (and of course it is to an extent), he should have just told the whole truth.

Jordan made it worse the day he didn’t take action when one of his students told him that the team doctor had grabbed his dick and balls. Jordan is complicit in the abuse that took place. But, the Republicans continue to defend him.

I would hardly call this on the level of the systematic rape of underage boys who were groomed for it by Sandusky.

For one thing, everyone understands that doctors are supposed to examine patients. If these patients at Ohio State felt the doctor was out of line, they should have gone to the appropriate authorities at the time. There’s no evidence that happened. Based on what we know, there is no evidence of a cover-up such as what happened with Dr. Nassar. If something like this happens in a college in 2018, maybe a male wrestler will, and that is a good thing.

The doctor was completely out of line if that stuff happened, but to compare it is insulting to the victims of far worse and damaging crimes.

I agree with Jack, Republicans could care less about any of this except keeping power. Jim Jordan has a safe seat, but his little “see no evil, speak no evil” scandal might spill over into the general idea that the GOP is running a corrupt institution.

But, before I go, I must say.

I am amazed that a sex abuse scandal of this proportion would be so easily dismissed by our friend Corey, when he spent days complaining about Al Franken and his Kevlar vest photo.

His defense of Jordan now appears to be “there are far worse scandals,” really?

Far worse than knowing your students, the people you are responsible for mentoring and protecting, are being sexually molested by one of your colleagues??!! How very Republican of him.

Most people understand that having the team doctor shower with you and then masturbate in front of you is wrong. Didn’t know that was part of the physical?!! And those students told Jordan, and he did nothing.

The doctor was both systematic in his abuse, and he depended on Jordan to keep it all quiet for him. Sounds like it worked, until it didn’t work.

Franken physically assaulted a person (and many others came forward to claim similar treatment) both in the disgusting photograph and the time he shoved his tongue down her throat against her will according to her account, which he never really denied.

Democrats eventually realized it was time for Franken to go. It’s amazing that Keith thinks so little of women that he could trivialize such a thing.

President Donald Trump is CURRENTLY being sued by several women for hands issues akin to other ‘s that left their jobs under detest…

Damn REAL there is a double standard and we have a guy just picked to ascend to the
Supreme’s who thinks President’s should able to stay in office Scott Free even if he is is robbing banks in broad daylight ….

I am unaware of any part of this story being that the doctor was in the shower or engaging in sex acts in the presence of the wrestlers. If that actually happened and Jordan was aware of it, it makes it look worse. Is Keith making this up?

I heard that various gawkers would show up at the wrestling locker room or shower and had to be removed.

What I get from this is that Keith seems to think that gay men are leeches and dangerous to all around them. That was his view on the Mark Foley situation as well.

So, let’s say for hypothetical purposes that you were on the football team at NIU, and the team physician spent too long on a prostrate exam, would you really go to the school administrator to discuss the activity, and risk further humiliation if reporting this event became known by the rest of the student body ? Or if you got raped by a doctor, would you really go to an administrator who you almost certainly don’t know? If yes, it is good that you are not embarrassed by such things, but don’t assume that others are like you.

Paterno may have been largely clueless, which is not an excuse. He failed in his role.

But “turn your head and cough” to an 18-22 year old wrestler in an exam room is not the same thing as anally raping an 11 year boy in a shower.

Is there any evidence at all that anyone went to Jordan and actually told him this was happening? There does not seem to be. He heard about it in the locker room and assumed his wrestlers could take care of themselves.

As a Democrat, you saying you hope Sanders starts his own party is absolutely stupid. Democrats would get clobbered in almost all swing districts if the party split. Both progressive Democrats and Status-Quo Democrats need each other to win. That should be obvious.

And by the way, if the Democrat party did split into a progressive vs. a Status-Quo wing, the progressive wing would win more seats.

James is ,in my view, a fellow who wants politics to be more like it was in the sixties .

Both parties had broad spectrums with distinct and fairly strong ideological wings.There were lots of liberal Republicans ,although conservatives predominated .Conversely, while more liberal types dominated the Democratic Party ,there were lots of conservative Democrats,particularly in the south.

He sort of refuses to accept or believe that those days are pretty much gone

If it would have come out this month that years ago, Jordan, as an assistant university wrestling coach, had based on rumors about medical exams and things he heard in the locker room, pushed to fire a doctor, who later committed suicide, the same people would be calling him out for being a homophobe and a bigot.

Given that gay people are something like 3x more likely to commit suicide, CG should have several instances to document in which the left insppropriatdly blamed someone for a gay suicide.

More likely, this is just another example of reckless accusations that CG likes to engage in to protect Republicans in which he shares their core values, there was a time in the now distant past when Republicans did take responsibility for their own actions. Now their response is always “what about…”

Trump’s bickering with this countries ALLIES will drive the media for the next few days and of course his sit down with his ‘main man’ Putin in which the world will worry about Trump possibly laying out America and the West for the guy in exchange for funding for his adventures after he leaves office?….

Again, nobody has come forward to claim they personally spoke to Jim Jordan about this situation.

They are simply saying they thought he knew or would have been aware from other methods. If this was truly a horrible experience for them, as would be understood, they should have went to him or to the Head Coach certainly.

A big difference with the Paterno situation is that Paterno was directly Sandusky’s boss and thus responsible for his conduct in his job. Neither Jordan (nor the Head Coach of the wrestling team) were the boss of this doctor.

I am glad that more people are willing to stand up for their rights these days. More High School and college students need to be taught that they need to do so. This should also apply in all sorts of hazing situations on athletic teams where athletes might be sexually assaulted by teammates or fraternity/sorority pledging which may include that or involve deadly binge drinking.

If Al Franken grabbed somebody by the balls, he should have resigned as well.

Instead though, Franken targeted women, which is why several (Democrat) women said that Franken inappropriately touched them. There was also the matter of his shoving his tongue down the throat of the woman he assaulted in the photo on another occasion. In his comedy career, Franken would also joke about drugging women to unconsciousness and then raping them. Pretty sick stuff.

And Democrats care about misconduct on their side? They said one word about the credible accusations that Bill Clinton committed assaults?

I was very clear about what I felt about Trump, whether other Republicans were or not. As much as anyone here might dislike Jordan politically or personally, there is simply no evidence that Jordan took part in any crime. Let the University investigate what happened and let the truth come out. Then, it’s up to the voters.

I have expressed my belief that whether they are right or not, the voters, not just Republicans, are not going to equate Jordan with Jerry Sandusky or the USA Gymnastics scandal.

I have offered ample criticism of what I believe about Jordan both in terms of the events of the past and how he handled it. I would prefer someone other than Jordan to hold that seat in Congress.

That is not a license though for Keith or anyone else to make ridiculously off-base comparisons or charges against him that are not accurate or substantiated. Attorneys should understand that dichotomy.

I am disagreeing with the people here who are talking about. I was specifically invited to comment on it since I had not previously. Giving the people what they want. What other “role” am I supposed to play here? (And didn’t you say you were quitting the site jack? Can’t stay away huh?)

I have a lot more back and forth about various Trump stuff with the people over at HHR. I serve my “role” there as well.

I’m not asking you to leave jack. I want to have people to “fight” with, (although for james sake, I sort of wish he would close this all down and find other ways to enjoy life), but you said that your “role” here might be coming to an end.

Yes, lots of stupidity over there and a good deal of dishonesty over here by anyone who would claim that I am somehow in concert with Donald Trump and that no distinctions can be made between me or other Republicans.

(Both in terms of my religious identification which is how I grew up with the term being used) and politically, since I am NeverTrump and AlmostNeverDemocrat.

Obviously, I do not seek out echo chambers or feel the need to have a pack backing me up (back at P1, it was often 10-1 against me at any one time). I have been willing to discuss politics and issues with people online who disagree with me, which may be wasteful in and of itself, but it’s not something a lot of people want to do.

The pro-Trump Tribe just wants to interact with their own and the anti-Trump Tribe on the left doesn’t want to hear anything they disagree with or challenges them about the left.

The wrestlers were simply looking for someone to help them with a difficult and embarrassing situation. They went to Jordan and he did nothing, and now it’s necessary for him to deny these things happened. But it’s at least eight wrestlers who have now told the same story.

Jack is right, the Republicans don’t care. But Ohio State should care and the parents of current and future students should care.

Of course Jordan is blaming Rosestein and Hillary. As if they had a “way back machine” and paid the wrestlers to tell this story years later.

No, actually one of the wrestlers specifically told Jordan who snickered in response.

Once again Corey, you, like Jordan, can call people liars all you like. Ohio State is now investigating and bringing in an ex-U.S. Attorney to run the investigation. Obviously the school thinks there is enough evidence to pursue this investigation.

Unfortunately, when you were calling for Al Franken to resign, there was never any opportunity for a full investigation. And, I still find it amazing that you have spent so much time trying to defend and deflect from what Jordan obviously did not do when he worked at the University.

He did not protect the students under his responsibility from sexual abuse.

This is going to cost the University. Let’s see if it costs Jordan’s seat.

I’ll trust what comes out in an investigation, not something said on a blog by Keith.

This was probably treated mostly as a joke by all involved at the time, whether it should have been or not. As I have said, times have changed. Jordan was not the Head Coach though. If he was malfeasant, as he may have been, others above him were even more so.

Now, that Jordan is a prominent and controversial figure, some people have more motivation to feel more victimized now than they probably did at the time.

Well it was certainly not viewed as a joke by at least some of the victims – as that was the reason at least one gave for leaving the sport. First you said that you would move heaven and earth to get this guy arrested and now you claim the victims thought it is funny getting molested? I find your comments offensive, but your defense of this guy was predictable.

I seriously do not see the Paterno comparison. Is there any consideration for levels of disapproval or does anything one wants to be mad at blend together?

The OSU coaches, especially the head coach who was not Jordan, should have tried to find out what actually was happening and should have changed doctors, but as controversial a political figure as Jordan is today, he would not have gotten any points for that from the left. It would have been just the opposite.

The OSU Wrestling doctor sounds like he was really bad. Jerry Sandusky was a lot worse.

The policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border was abhorrent. The Holocaust in Nazi Europe was a lot worse.

● NJ-02: After standing by their racist nominee in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District for weeks, the NRCC finally withdrew its backing from Republican Seth Grossman after Media Matters unearthed social media posts in which Grossman favorably linked to hate-filled essays on white supremacist sites. One typically unsubtle passage from a piece that Grossman highlighted:

​​However, my experience has also taught me that blacks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well. They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike…